Google will help you find the bathrooms at IAH

Google Maps has long showed you where you are when traveling along streets and highways. Now, the search giant’s location service can show you where you are inside some buildings – including Houston’s Bush Intercontinental and William P. Hobby airports.

Starting today, a new version of Google Maps for Android enables indoor mapping. For now, it’s only available in a handful of buildings in the U.S. and Japan, according to Google’s official blog:

Mall of America, IKEA, The Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Daimaru, Taskashimaya and Mitsukoshi locations and more. Watch an IKEA demo here.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Narita International (NRT), among others.

JR and Tokyu Corporation

Although they’re not in that list, IAH and HOU are indeed among them. The maps show restaurants, lounges, gates and, perhaps most importantly, restrooms.

The above screenshots are from a tablet. Here’s a video showing what it looks like on a smartphone.

Unfortunately for iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Phone users, this is only available for Android devices, and then only if you download Google Maps 6.0.

By the way, Google isn’t just barging in and mapping private buildings. It’s seeking permission of building owners to do this. If you’d like your facility to be included, you can start here.

Dwight Silverman | Techblogger, social media manager

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